Club glider electrics - switch them off !

[BarryL]

We seem to have another failure of a club glider battery.

The most common cause of battery failure is over-discharge. There are three ways this can happen:
1. Leaving the glider's electrics switched on and running all day.
2. Running the turn and slip when not needed.
3. Leaving the battery in the glider and the electrics switched on at the end of the day.

All the club gliders have a master power switch*. At the end of a flight, please turn off the master power switch unless the glider is going to be flown again within a few minutes. Why run the battery down when the glider is standing idle?

The remedies for 2. and 3. are obvious.

If you need help to understand the electrics in any of the club gliders, please ASK !

Thank you,
Barry

*In the K21 only, the master power switch turns off everything except the Flarm which remains running. The Flarm's current drain is not enough to be a problem.

[Adrian]

The DG505 battery? It went completely flat on me during the last flight of the day last Saturday. I did four flights in fairly quick succession so did not switch off in between flights.

[BarryL]

The club glider batteries are interchangeable, they are not fitted to particular gliders. Ken M tests the battery capacities from time to time and found no.6 was down to 30%, even though it is only a year old.

The DG505 carries three batteries, two removable ones behind the rear seat and one permanently fitted in the tail. You should never run out of power in the DG if you understand the system and can switch batteries if necessary.

There is an explanation sheet in the DG, and a copy in this forum.

I am happy to explain how it all works in person too, just ask.

Barry